The invention relates to an apparatus for supporting and guiding a conveyor belt.
For carrying conveyor belts for conveying bulk goods, a supporting apparatus comprising a series of supports is typically used, which supports each carry a number of juxtaposed conveyor rollers. For that purpose, each support has a series of fixed points of support, which in each case a carrying axle for a conveyor roller, which carrying axle is inserted from a top side, being bearing-mounted in two successive points of support. Preferably, the carrying axles include an angle relative to each other so that at that location, the conveyor belt is given a slightly troughed cross section.
This known supporting apparatus has the advantage that the conveyor belt is simultaneously supported properly and guided properly, because the conveyor rollers are capable of rotating around the carrying axles upon a conveying movement of the belt. However, the use of this supporting apparatus involves the drawback that contamination of the rollers, for instance due to bulk goods or dirt falling from the conveyor belt or carried along at the bottom side thereof and passed to the conveyor rollers, causes the conveyor rollers to become jammed in rotational sense. The material received by the conveyor rollers is collected on the support, for instance between the bearing surface of the conveyor roller and the support or in the bearing of the conveyor roller. If the conveyor roller is blocked in rotational sense, the conveyor belt will be drawn across the roller in a chafing manner during a conveying movement, causing strong wear of both the conveyor belt and the conveyor rollers. This may even result in tearing of the belt. Moreover, it thus becomes increasingly heavy to move the conveyor belt, which may cause the conveyor belt to slow down, resulting in loss of production and greater wear of, among other things, the drive means for the conveyor belt and an substantially greater necessary driving power.
In the event of undue wear of the conveyor rollers or if they are blocked, the relevant conveyor rollers should be disassembled and replaced or repaired. For that purpose, the conveyor belt should be stopped, the support should at least partly be disassembled and the conveyor roller should be removed in substantially vertical direction, i.e. in the direction of the conveyor belt to be supported. After that, another or the repaired conveyor roller can be placed back and the support can be brought into the operating position again. This manner of maintaining, repairing or replacing requires much time and skill, so that this is expensive and moreover requires a long production stop. In addition, with the known apparatus, such a replacement or repair should take place relatively often.